Maternal Instinct
by Strawberry Shortcake123
Summary: Companion oneshot to Our Eternity trilogy. Max wants another baby, and she is ready to take on anyone who tries to stand in her way- meaning Fang. Some Fax.


**Dang, I started this oneshot a long time ago… a month and a half, to be exact. Whenever I've worked on it, I've only written a little bit, but tonight I opened it up and went ahead and decided to finish it before I went to bed!**

**This is another oneshot that is sort of an add-on to the Our Eternity trilogy. It takes place after the final installment, You and Me Forever. Again, reading the trilogy is not necessary to understand the story… there just might be some references you don't get. But feel free to go read the trilogy anyway!**

I was experiencing empty nest syndrome.

Which was ridiculous, because I had two three and a half year olds screaming in the other room. But still, as I boiled water to prepare a box of macaroni and cheese, I couldn't help feeling old and lonely. My oldest daughter, Gracie, had left for college that day. A couple weeks earlier, Gracie's twin Devin and his girlfriend had blown off college to go on some kind of cross-country road trip. I'd always spent a lot of time screaming to Gracie to turn her music down, or telling Devin to take off this stupid hat he liked to wear, but now that they were gone, I missed it. I wanted to run after them and bring them home and tuck them into bed, as if they were six years old again.

"Mom-_my_!" shrieked Missouri. "Blake took my teddy!"

I sighed and turned down the stove, then headed into the living room. Blake was bouncing on the sofa with Missouri's teddy bear in his hands, grinning mockingly at her. "Blake, give your sister her bear."

"No!" He laughed and retreated into a far corner of the sofa, away from me. "Mine now."

"It's mine!" shouted Missouri, leaping onto the sofa beside Blake. She grabbed the bear's foot and started tugging. Blake tugged, too, and soon they were a pile of little arms and legs.

"Okay, cut it out," I said loudly, reaching in and disentangling them from each other. I set Missouri on the floor, a safe distance from her brother. "Blake, give the bear back."

Blake just smirked.

"I said give the bear back. Right now."

Nothing.

"_Now_."

He finally huffed and tossed the teddy bear at Missouri's feet. She snatched it up, turned her nose up at Blake, and walked purposefully away.

For some reason, this exchange just made me miss my kids more.

0000000000

"Fang?"

I plopped down on the edge of our bed and watched my husband in our bathroom, brushing his teeth.

"Yeah?" he asked around the toothbrush.

I bit my lip and hesitated, wondering how to proceed. A moment later, Fang rinsed his mouth and turned off the faucet, then came into the bedroom. "What is it?"

I sighed and stood up, then crossed the room to him. Our fingers found each other, and I looked directly into his eyes as I said, "I want another one."

"Another what?" Fang looked genuinely confused, but I stayed silent, letting him figure it out. "You want a baby?"

"Yes."

"Max…" He seemed to be searching for the right words to say something, and my heart sunk. "I don't think this is the best time. We have a kid to put through college, two more at home, only one full-time job… do we really want to take on something else right now?"

"I work thirty hours a week," I said defensively. "It's not _really _part-time." Okay, admittedly, Fang was our breadwinner, with his job as a columnist at Tucson Weekly, and my job as a secretary just gave us some extra cash. But all I did was sit there; if I were pregnant, I would still be able to work up until the ninth month. Money was a non-issue.

"But Blake and Missouri…"

"Are at preschool every day," I said firmly, so determined to get my way here. "I wouldn't have to chase them around and take care of the baby at the same time. I'd be fine."

Fang looked doubtful, and he gently pulled his hand away from mine so he could walk to the bed and sit on the edge. I turned around and faced him, arms crossed over my chest.

"I don't know, Max," he said, running a hand through his hair. "Maybe we should wait. At least a couple years."

"_At least _a couple?" My mind raced ahead, to two years in the future: Gracie about to begin her junior year of college. Devin and Callie on the verge of being hitched, if not already. Blake and Missouri, starting kindergarten.

And me, answering phones alone at the office building as everybody began to leave me behind.

"Don't cry," Fang said, sounding freaked, rising from the bed. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm _not_," I snapped, but then lifted my fingers to my cheek and realized that I was.

"It's okay, Max. It's okay." He stood up and pulled me into his arms, rubbing my back and resting his chin on my head. I let him hold me, but stood stiffly, staring into his shoulder as tears rolled down my face. Even in those strong arms, usually able to comfort me so easily, I felt distant, like the process of all my loved ones leaving me had already begun.

"What's the matter, baby?" Fang whispered, not loosening his grip on me.

With that question, asked in a voice so soft and caring, I lost all my stubbornness, and by the time I realized that I was talking, it was too late to stop. "Fang, my whole life I've been a mother. It's what I'm best at, it's what I know how to do. The flock's grown up, Gracie and Devin are grown up… I'm losing everyone."

"Max," he sighed. "Even though they're grown up, they still look at you like their mother. None of them have ever stopped needing you."

"I know that," I said, although I hadn't thought of that before, and I was actually a little bit comforted. "But I just… you know me, Fang. Everyone's doing things for themselves now… even Missouri and Blake don't need me _as_ much… I just need someone to take care of, you know?"

I lifted my head from his shoulder and looked up at him, praying that he did, because if he didn't, nobody would. Fang looked back at me, his dark eyes obviously thinking, but not revealing what.

Finally he nodded and kissed my forehead. "Okay, Max. We'll get you your baby."

I breathed out in relief and wrapped my arms tight around his neck, the tears threatening to start up again- this time out of joy. "_Our_ baby," I corrected him, and then murmured, "Thank you."

Fang ignored the last part; instead, he hoisted me up and spun me around, and as I laughed and held on to him tighter, he said, "You're right. Our baby. And you know what?"

"What?"

He stopped and looked into my eyes, then kissed me softly, still holding me off the ground. "I can't wait."

**Yay! I'll try to write more; I know I haven't been uploading anything in a while. Review?**


End file.
